LendingTree’s State Migration Study Finds Americans Are Moving South

LendingTree®, the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, today released its State Migration Study on where Americans are interested in moving. The study looked at where people moving out of state are going and discovered that of the 12.1 percent of homebuyers across the country who change states, most plan to head south.

LendingTree reviewed more than 2 million new purchase mortgage loan requests for primary residences in all 50 states in 2018 (through mid-November) to find what percentage of all requests were from residents looking to move outside of their current state and where their destination would be. The results reveal the most popular new locations for homeowners in each state, along with the states with the highest percentage of requests to move to other parts of the country.

Key findings

Florida is the No. 1 destination. Florida was the top new destination for 15 of the 50 states. Of all purchase mortgage requests during the study’s period, 9.1 percent were for Florida. For out-of-state movers, 12.4 percent of requests were for Florida. The Sunshine State has a long history of bringing in visitors and new residents, particularly retirees.

Texas residents love the Lone Star State.Texas had the highest percentage of residents looking to move within state lines — 93.4 percent of purchase mortgage requests from individuals in Texas were for properties in the same state. Texas is also a top destination for people moving from out of state, claiming the top spot from six states. Michigan was the state with the second highest percentage of residents looking to move within its borders, at 91.3 percent.

Alaska has the most residents looking to move away. By contrast, Alaska had the lowest percentage of residents looking to stay in state at 75.2 percent. The top destination out of Alaska was Washington state.

Most people looking to move out of state don’t want to go far. More than half of the most popular new destination states border the current state. But if they are looking to move cross-country, chances are it’s to Florida. Of the 20 states where the residents’ most popular new location does not border their current state, 13 were Florida.

South Carolina is the top destination when adjusted for population size. LendingTree created a Moving Popularity Score Index* to analyze destination states adjusted by population. South Carolinascored highest, as mortgage loan requests from out-of-state movers were 52 percent greater than suggested by its share of the national population. Other popular states by this metric are Florida, Delaware, Georgia and North Carolina, revealing a Southern tilt in the preferences of out-of-state homebuyers. At the other end of the spectrum, homebuyers are least attracted to South Dakota, which received just 64 percent of the loan requests its population would suggest. Hawaii, Minnesota, California and New York complete the bottom five.

Percentage looking to move to top destination (of out-of- state movers)

AK

24.80%

WA

10.80%

AL

9.30%

FL

22.40%

AR

9.30%

TX

17.10%

AZ

11.20%

CA

11.30%

CA

14.10%

TX

11.20%

CO

15.00%

TX

11.60%

CT

17.30%

FL

23.90%

DE

17.90%

PA

23.60%

FL

8.90%

GA

13.80%

GA

9.20%

FL

26.50%

HI

22.40%

CA

12.80%

IA

12.20%

IL

10.10%

ID

12.30%

WA

20.70%

IL

14.20%

FL

14.20%

IN

10.00%

FL

18.80%

KS

15.50%

MO

31.20%

KY

10.50%

FL

15.40%

LA

9.90%

TX

25.60%

MA

17.90%

NH

21.50%

MD

17.20%

VA

13.50%

ME

11.30%

FL

21.00%

MI

8.60%

FL

22.00%

MN

12.00%

WI

15.40%

MO

10.80%

KS

14.40%

MS

10.40%

TN

16.70%

MT

13.80%

AZ

11.10%

NC

9.80%

SC

28.10%

ND

21.60%

MN

29.90%

NE

12.30%

IA

15.10%

NH

17.80%

MA

18.60%

NJ

17.50%

FL

21.80%

NM

14.40%

TX

25.00%

NV

15.50%

CA

18.50%

NY

21.30%

FL

21.50%

OH

9.10%

FL

20.70%

OK

9.20%

TX

24.80%

OR

13.40%

WA

25.90%

PA

13.20%

NJ

16.60%

RI

20.40%

MA

29.10%

SC

9.20%

NC

31.30%

SD

17.30%

AZ

11.90%

TN

10.50%

FL

15.80%

TX

6.60%

FL

10.10%

UT

11.80%

ID

9.40%

VA

15.70%

NC

17.70%

VT

17.20%

FL

19.60%

WA

13.20%

OR

11.40%

WI

10.60%

FL

15.60%

WV

14.80%

OH

17.20%

WY

19.60%

CO

15.80%

States Ranked by Moving Popularity Score

State

Moving popularity score

1

SC

152

2

FL

144

3

DE

138

4

GA

138

5

NC

137

6

TN

126

7

NH

125

8

NV

121

9

WV

121

10

AL

114

11

KY

111

12

OH

110

13

TX

110

14

AZ

109

15

AR

109

16

MS

108

17

IN

108

18

ME

104

19

VA

104

20

MT

104

21

OR

103

22

ID

103

23

CO

103

24

VT

100

25

WY

100

26

LA

99

27

PA

99

28

MO

98

29

OK

97

30

NJ

93

31

NM

93

32

MD

93

33

CT

89

34

KS

89

35

MI

88

36

UT

87

37

NE

86

38

WA

86

39

RI

82

40

IA

81

41

IL

79

42

MA

78

43

WI

78

44

AK

76

45

ND

75

46

NY

74

47

CA

72

48

MN

71

49

HI

67

50

SD

64

*Moving Popularity Score Index methodologyThe popularity score for each state was created by dividing the percentage of all out-of-state purchase mortgage requests for the state by the percentage of the total population each state represents. A score of 100 means a state receives loan requests proportional to its population, above 100 means a state is more popular than its share of the national population and below 100 means a state is less popular than its share of the national population. For example, South Carolina represents 2.40% of all out-of-state mortgage requests, and its population is 1.54% of the nation. So, the South Carolina score is 2.40/1.54 x 100, or 156.

About LendingTreeLendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search, and can choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers’ credit accounts against offers on our network, and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. In short, LendingTree’s purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life’s meaningful moments through choice, education and support. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information, go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.

Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He is also the editor, producer and administrator of TNC Network.